Electric-socket cover



Mamh 1929- J. WILLIAMSON ELECTRIC SOCKET COVER Fild April 22, 1925 Patented Mar. 5, 1929. I

JAMES WILLIAMSON; CF'CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

unscrew-seeker covnn.

Application filed April 22, 1925. Serial No. 24,920.

This invention relates to covers for electric light sockets, and its object is to enable the covers to be readily engaged with and disengaged from a socket having either a key or a chain pull without deforming or in any way damaging the cover or the socket.

in my Patent No. 1.284;,012, patentedNovember 5, 1918', T have shown a cover which is adapted to be engaged with and disengaged from a socket having a key or a chain pull, but a certain degree of skill is required to effeet the engagement or disengagement, especially with the chain pull socket, and sometimes the cover is deformed and damaged in so doing. It will be'borne in mind that covers of this kind are made of very light metal and they are often highly finished, so that not much effort is required to deform the cover and destroy its pleasing appearance. Such deformation usually consists in bending the cover adjacent the slot to permit the flared mouth-piece of the pull chain socket to enter the slot, and because of thelightness of the metal employed in making the cover, a little deformation at the edge of the slot will often extend quite a d istance from. the slot and any efforts directed to restoring the cap to its original and desired shape generally fail and result in greater deformation.

The present invention is an improvement on my patented invention aforesaid, and in actual practice it has been found that the flared mouth-piece of the pull chain socket can he slipped through the slot of the cover to engage or disengage the socket with the cover without any special skill and without danger of damage to the cover.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 shows a chain pull socket embodied with a cover in accordance with my invention.

Figs. 2 and 3 show the progressive movements employed in engaging a chain pull socket with the cover.

. Fig. 4t is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the cover showing how a key socket is engaged therewith.

Fig. 6 illustrates the key socket in position in the cover.

Referring to the drawings, 7 is-the cover adapted to receive a chain pull socket 8 or a key socket 8. This cover is shown in a conventional bell shape and, as before stated, is

' width of the slot so that each side wall of the slot is in effect, recessed or cut away in forming the circular enlargement.

In my former patent above referred to the cover is provided with a slot having an enlargement at its upper end on one side only. This invention is distinguished from the patentedinvention by reason of the fact that there is an enlargement in each side wall at the upper end of the slot. With the one side enlargement as shown in my patent; it is impossible to assemble the chain pull socket and the cover without bending and sometimes distorting the continuous straight side edge of the slot; but with my present invention the flared mouth-piece of the chain pull socket can be easily passed through the slot without bending or distorting the edges of the slot and without damage to the cover. The pro cedure for assembling or disassembling the cover and chain pull socket is shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The flared mouth-piece is inserted edgewise through the lower part of the slot where the edges are parallel. As shown in Fig. 2, one side of the mouth-piece is inside the cover and the other side is outside of the cover. Then the socket is moved upward in the cover to carry the mouth-piece into the circular enlargement 10 and as it reachesthe circular enlargement, the socket can be turned slightly to carry that edge of the mouthpiece which is in the cover, in Fig. 2, through i the circular enlargement to a position outside of the cover, as shown in Fig. 3, whereupon the socket may be centered in position in the cover, as "it appearsin Fig. 1, and secured in i this position in a suitable manner. To disassemble the socket and the cover the procedure is simply reversed. This double enlargement at the upper end of the slot enables the insertion and withdrawal of'the flared mouthpiece without otherwise enlarging the slot, and it is desirable to restrict the opening in the mouth-piece as much as possible to preserve the ornamental appearance of the cover.

I claim:

In an electric light fixture embodying a socket, a cover for such socket, the 5211116 comprising a thin sheet metal casing adapted to receive the socket and provided with a slot extending in the direction of the length of the cover, the said slot being formed with both ends closed and terminating at its upper'end at a distance from the ends of the cover, the said slot terminating at its upper end in a cir- JAMES WILLIAMSON. 

